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THREAD Covering the Central Med the last 5yrs: rescuers blamed & driven out, 1000s drowned, European ships largely replaced w/aerial surveillance. It's an edifice of interception & evasion. This @LHReports investigation collapses it https://www.lighthousereports.nl/investigation/frontex-in-the-central-mediterranean/
The interception system relies on a veil of deniability. EU/ITA equip, train Libya's coast guard but say they don't direct it. Now we see Whatsapp groups where @Frontex shares boat coordinates with Libyans https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/libya-how-frontex-helps-haul-migrants-back-to-libyan-torture-camps-a-d62c3960-ece2-499b-8a3f-1ede2eaefb83
We're meant to believe that support for the Libyan coast guard is not about blockading the Med to asylum seekers. The chartered aircraft & drones don't act as spotters for a proxy interception force
But 3 different Libyan coast guard officials confirm to us that they receive instructions from @Frontex. It's clear they have no capacity to pursue or locate small boats without European direction
The plans to build a marine rescue centre (MRCC) in Tripoli remain paper fantasies. The idea that Libya's warring factions could unite around Europe's need to stem migration flows is absurd
In biggest independent data analysis undertaken on attempted Med crossings we found 56 of 94 attempts were intercepted. Clear that boats in distress are made to wait until LCG can catch them
Nearby NGO rescue boats or commercial traffic is frequently not notified & LCG is encouraged to pursue asylum seeker boats into Malta's SAR zone. The option for escapees amounts to interception or drowning
@EU_Commission responds to us w/unintended truth: "Search & rescue is not an EU competence." Then promises more boats & resources for the same Libyan coast guard it denies commanding
Lamentable state of LCG graphically demonstrated last week when 130 people drowned after 2 days of distress calls. But the worse it gets, the greater the deterrence is the dark logic
Meanwhile @Frontex, as @tomasstatius shows, a different human cost becomes clear as staff face burden of watching the drowning by numbers https://www.liberation.fr/international/europe/le-jeu-trouble-de-frontex-en-mediterranee-20210429_TDJBY7XEF5HLRAAJKULIQHNI2U/
Fantastic, painstaking work from @bash_deeb @saracreta @EmmanFre @stluedke @TomasStatius @ShafaghLaghai @StraatmannLara @klaasvandijken. Find their stories on this thread https://twitter.com/LHreports/status/1387733561726410756
